SC collegium to fill vacancies in six months: CJI

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Tirath Singh Thakur on Saturday said that nearly 100 judges would be appointed in various high courts by the Supreme Court collegium in six months as part of the exercise to fill 450 vacancies across the country.

Talking to mediapersons, the CJI said that the Supreme Court was awaiting the memorandum of procedure to appoint judges from the government. (Livemint photo)

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Tirath Singh Thakur on Saturday said that nearly 100 judges would be appointed in various high courts by the Supreme Court collegium in six months as part of the exercise to fill 450 vacancies across the country.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the convocation at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law in Patiala, the CJI said that the Supreme Court was awaiting the memorandum of procedure to appoint judges from the government. “Since the government needs time, it has written to the Supreme Court that the process of appointment can be resumed on the basis of existing procedure to fill vacancies that are rising by the day,” he said.

“Once the government proposes modifications, we will look into them and will be happy to introduce reforms wherever required,” Thakur said, adding that the collegium system is already transparent and elevates only deserving candidates.

Chief justice of India Tirath Singh Thakur addressing the gathering during the annual convocation at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law in Patiala on Saturday.
(Bharat Bhushan/HT Photo)

“Let me tell you that a large number of proposals for elevation have been turned down by the collegium after verification of credentials. Wherever we have doubt, we turn it down. These proposals come from various high courts but only a few get selected,” the CJI said.

On Haryana’s demand for a separate high court, he clarified that there was no such proposal pending before the Supreme Court at present. “However, if we get such a proposal, we will consider it as it’s a long-pending demand,” he said, adding that the process to set up a separate high court for Telangana had been initiated as Andhra Pradesh now had a different capital.

He said there was no proposal to set up regional benches of the Supreme Court. “At present, we are facing shortage of judges in the apex court so it’s not feasible to comment on this,” he added.